Prayer for Rattlesnakes

Once upon a time there was a family of wayward church members who had once been active, but had lost all interest and had fallen away. There were the father and three sons, Jim, John and Sam. The elders had talked to them about their lost condition, the preacher had visited them, and many of the brethren had tried to get them to come back to church, but all this did not seem to do the least bit of good.
One day when the boys were out in the pasture, a large rattlesnake bit John and he became very ill. The physician was called and after an examination, he pronounced John to be in a very critical condition. Said he, “about all you can do now is, is pray.” The father called the preacher, and told him of John’s condition. He asked the preacher to pray for John’s recovery and this was his prayer:
“O wise and righteous Father, we thank Thee, for Thou has in Thy wisdom sent this rattlesnake to bite John, in order to bring him to his senses. He has not been inside the church house for years and it is doubtful that he has in all that time felt the need for prayer. Now we trust that this will prove a valuable lesson to him, and that it will lead to genuine repentance.
“And now, O Father, wilt Thou send another snake to bit Sam, and another to bite Jim, and another BIG ONE to bite the old man. We have all been doing everything we know for years to restore them, but to no avail. It seems, therefore, that all our combined efforts could not do what this snake has done. We thus conclude that the only thing left that will do this family any good is rattlesnakes; so Lord, send us bigger and better rattlesnakes. In the name of Jesus we pray.
Amen

(Taken from the Sword Scrapbook)

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